Why Not Just Disinherit a Child with Special Needs?

Many disabled people rely on SSI, Medicaid, or other government benefits to provide food and shelter. You may have been advised to disinherit your child with special needs - the child who needs your help most -- to protect that child's public benefits. But these benefits rarely provide more than subsistence. And this "solution" does not allow you to help your child after you are incapacitated or gone.

When your child receives or is likely to receive governmental assistance to meet their basic needs, you should consider establishing a special needs trust.

Special Needs Trusts Protect Public Benefits

Special needs trusts can provide additional support for comforts and luxuries that are not paid by public benefits. The funds in the trust are owned by the trust and managed by a trustee. Since the beneficiary does not control the funds, they are not counted toward benefits eligibility. Your loved one can receive essential benefits and enhance their lifestyle in areas of education, recreation, counseling, transportation, equipment, vacations, and more.

Getting Started

There is no need to disinherit an individual with special needs, in fact, you have many options to protect them along with supporting your other loved ones. Learn more about first-party trusts, third-party trusts, and pooled trusts to understand which one might meet your goals for a child with special needs or other relatives with disabilities. Find a local special needs planner to explain the many details that go into setting up your trust and ways to fund it.